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Baby is born to two 15-year-olds, and her mother dies a year later. Her father, Jules, is not a bad man, but he is a perpetual kid, without money, education, purpose, moral compass, or any idea of what being a parent is about or how ordinary people live. When the novel begins, Baby is almost 12, and her 12th year turns out to be a very big one indeed. She smokes pot, shoots heroin, loses her virginity, and lives in foster homes, a state detention home, and one seedy, squalid apartment after another. She comes under the spell of Alphonse, a neighborhood pimp, and is so hungry for male affection that she mistakes what he offers for love and care.
Baby and her equally neglected and abused friends long for adulthood, whatever that means. They look up to sophisticated druggies and efficient thieves. Baby says, "I don't know why I was upset about not being an adult. It was right around the corner. Becoming a child again is what is impossible. That's what you have a legitimate reason to be upset over." Baby is matter-of-fact about her predicament. She knows that other kids have lives very different from hers but says, "It never occurs to you when you are very young to need something other than what your parents have to offer to you." This poignant story is beautifully written, sprinkled throughout with humor, pathos, unbelievable privation, and, in the end, the hope of redemption. At least we know that Heather O'Neill grew up to be a writer of no mean accomplishment. --Valerie Ryan
Heather O’Neill’s critically acclaimed debut novel, with a new introduction from the author to celebrate its ten-year anniversary
Baby, all of thirteen years old, is lost in the gangly, coltish moment between childhood and the strange pulls and temptations of the adult world. Her mother is dead; her father, Jules, is scarcely more than a child himself and is always on the lookout for his next score. Baby knows that “chocolate milk” is Jules’ slang for heroin and sees a lot more of that in her house than the real thing. But she takes vivid delight in the scrappy bits of happiness and beauty that find their way to her, and moves through the threat of the streets as if she’s been choreographed in a dance.
Soon, though, a hazard emerges that is bigger than even her hard-won survival skills can handle. Alphonse, the local pimp, has his eye on her for his new girl—and what the johns don’t take he covets for himself. If Baby cannot learn to become her own salvation, his dark world threatens to claim her, body and soul.
Channeling the artlessly affecting voice of her thirteen-year-old heroine with extraordinary accuracy and power, Heather O’Neill’s debut novel blew readers away when it was first published ten years ago. Now it’s sure to capture its next decade of readers as Baby picks her pathway along the edge of the abyss to arrive at a place of redemption, and of love.
Featuring a new introduction from the author
CBC Canada reads winner, Paragraphe Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction winner, Orange Prize for Fiction finalist, Governor General’s Literary Award finalist, International Impac Dublin Literary Award finalist
Praise for Lullabies for Little Criminals
“A vivid portrait of life on skid row.”—People
“A nuanced, endearing coming-of-age novel you won’t want to miss.”—Quill And Quire
“Vivid and poignant. . . . A deeply moving and troubling novel.”—The Independent (London)
“O’Neill is a tragicomedienne par excellence. . . . You will not want to miss this tender depiction of some very mean streets.”—Montreal Review of Books
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. 'Like Angela Carter, she is relentlessly inventive' Sunday Times'Full of pathos, spirit and iridescent innocence' Independent on SundayThe first novel by the author of The Lonely Hearts Hotel12-year-old Baby is used to turmoil in her life. Her mother is long dead, her father is a junkie and they shuttle between rotting apartments and decrepit downtown hotels. As her father's addiction and paranoia grow worse, she begins a journey that will lead her through chaos and hardship; but Baby's remarkable strength of spirit enables her to survive. Smart, funny and determined to lift herself off the city's dirty streets, she knows that the only person she can truly rely upon is herself. Shortlisted for the Women's Fiction Prize, the startling story of a girl who has to bring herself up Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781847243935
Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9781847243935
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Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Shortlisted for the Women's Fiction Prize, the startling story of a girl who has to bring herself up. Seller Inventory # B9781847243935
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Book Description Condition: New. 2008. Paperback. Heather O'Neill is an extremely gifted writer and Lullabies for Little Criminals is her breathtaking first novel about one girl's struggle for survival on the mean streets of Montreal Num Pages: 384 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 199 x 130 x 26. Weight in Grams: 266. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9781847243935
Book Description Condition: New. 2008. Paperback. Heather O'Neill is an extremely gifted writer and Lullabies for Little Criminals is her breathtaking first novel about one girl's struggle for survival on the mean streets of Montreal Num Pages: 384 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 199 x 130 x 26. Weight in Grams: 266. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9781847243935